5 stars for Sally Hepworth’s new book, it BLEW ME AWAY!

I am a major fan of all her books and she’s an auto read author for me…her storylines & writing style always captivate me, and it was no different with this one.

This was a heavy, dark book, perfectly paced, full of mystery and shocks, and absolutely bingeable. I could not put it down and the twists that came were just so so good.
…and that ending!
I love when a book delivers a huge punch right at the end.

I was 100% invested in every single character- one of Hepworth’s specialties is creating amazing, unique characters which she did here.
This book tells the story of three girls who are bonded together after growing up in foster care at Wild Meadows. I couldn’t get enough of their backstory and all the details given along the way.
We learn their stories through their own point of view, which really allows the reader to feel for each of them in a different way.

This book will surprise you, make you hold your breath, feel all sorts of emotions, and want to read every other book Sally Hepworth has written.

An absolute must read!!!

This is my favorite Sally Hepworth book so far! It really kept me guessing and I didn’t want to stop reading! I liked that it was told from all three sisters’ POVs, past and present. I never figured out what was going on, and the ending?? So twisty and unexpected! It is a slow burn leading up to the reveal, but it’s definitely worth it! This one is dark, so definitely check trigger warnings. It would be perfect for a beach/pool read, with short chapters and plenty of suspense. A great summer thriller!

TW: foster care, child abuse, drug abuse, child death

Wow 🤯 This book had me absolutely hooked from the beginning all the way to the shocking ending!! This book is about 3 girls who grew up together in foster care. This truly was DARK and disturbing. I recommend you read trigger warnings.
I enjoyed this being told through 4 POV’s.
I loved how the flashbacks to their childhood helped bring you to where they are today as adults. The trauma of what they went through and how it impacted their adulthood 😳 I love Sally Hepworth and this is her best book yet!!! I will read anything she writes and can’t wait for the next one!!

A spine chilling and disturbing tale of secrets, sisterhood and surviving their childhood in their foster home with abusive Miss. Fairchild.

At the heart of this tale is Jessica, who entered Miss Fairchild's care at the tender age of five. Desperate for her foster mother's affection, Jessica unknowingly endures isolation due to Holly's controlling ways. Norah, an eleven-year-old with a propensity for violence borne out of necessity, and Alicia, a gentle twelve-year-old who joins them following her grandmother's accident, complete the trio. These girls endure Holly's physical and mental torment for nearly two years until the abuse escalates to a breaking point, forcing them to confront the horrors they have endured.

Fast forward 25 years, and the narrative reveals the aftermath of their shared time together. Jessica's once-successful life crumbles as she's caught stealing drugs from a client's home, succumbing to her own struggles with addiction and estrangement from her husband. Norah battles her inner demons, struggling with anger issues and facing the threat of imprisonment. Alicia, now a social worker, strives to find children safe homes while grappling with her own insecurities, hindering her chances at a healthy relationship and a family of her own.

Each of the three protagonists are well developed and powerful characters. The entire novel had me on the edge of my seat to find out what really happened and why Norah, Alicia, and Jessica have been called back (can't give out spoilers). If you liked Verity or enjoy psychological thrillers, this is definitely a book for you. This was my second Sally Hepworth novel and I can't wait to read more.

Sally Hepworth is back with another twisty, suspenseful mystery 👏

This one was DARK. Jessica, Norah, and Alicia formed a close bond at the foster home they were sent to. The girls were told how lucky they were to be raised by loving Miss Fairchild — but only they knew the nightmares that took place in that home. Years later, the foster sisters find themselves back in town when a body is discovered under their foster home.

I loved the multiple POVs and short chapters. The details that are revealed about the girls’ childhood are disturbing 😳 the author did a great job telling both storylines in a way that kept me turning the pages. DARLING GIRLS is fast-paced and can easily be finished in a couple sittings!

Hepworth really packed a punch with this one — and that ending 😮

Wow, ​I couldn’t put Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth down!

Twenty-five years ago, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia shared a childhood at Wild Meadows, an idyllic sounding ranch, under the protection of the foster mother, Miss Fairchild. But the girls soon learn that Miss Fairchild can be dangerous and unpredictable when crossed. After enduring countless horrors, the girls finally break free of Wild Meadows. But when the police discover a body under the house, the girls are pulled back to Wild Meadows and the life they left behind. But are they there as witnesses, or the prime suspects?

Darling Girls is at times a hard read given that it focuses on child abuse, as well as the ways adults and the foster care system can really let kids down. Reading this book was at times disturbing and upsetting, but ​I​ was so happy that Jessica, Norah and Alicia were able to find a family with each other and help protect each other. Even as adults, they have a close bond and continue to help​ and look out for each other.

One of the things that I loved most about Darling Girls was how effortlessly the story flowed. Writing a dual timeline book can be challenging, but Hepworth flawlessly includes dual timelines from three perspectives. With the short chapters that switched between Jessica, Norah, and Alicia both then and now, ​I​ was completely hooked!

Darling Girls is out today! And while this book will not be for everyone (please check the content warnings), I really enjoyed this one. Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Sally Hepworth, and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This on was such a good mystery read! Highly recommend.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Hepworth did an amazing job joining a very heavy subject matter with funny pieces. Three sisters grew up in foster care together and find themselves visiting the tormented place they spent years in after a body is found under the house. Will they go from innocent bystanders to murder suspects, do they know whose body was found?

The story explores sisters, Jessica, Alicia and Norah’s current lives as well as their experience in foster care with the wicked Miss Fairchild. Their experience and abuse in foster care is truly heartbreaking. It’s such a delicate matter but the author lightens the book with Norah’s personality and wit. The character development of the three of them is great. They grow in their situations and struggles as you read.

The writing was well done. Plots were easy to follow and I actually really liked how many were going on at the same time. The main characters were so different from each other, it was easy to go from one sister to the next without confusing them. The story is told in past and present as well as across several POVs.

If you need a great mystery, this one is it! Note there are a lot of trigger warnings including abuse, SA, domestic violence, etc. Swipe for a synopsis.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy!

Jessica, Norah and Alicia have been raised in a foster home by Miss Fairchild. On the outside, it looks like they are so lucky. They live in a nice home on a farming estate. But, all is not as tranquil as it seems!

These three sisters have grown up now and have their own lives. They have stayed very close. So, when the cops find a dead body on their foster home estate, these three circle the wagons and become very tight lipped and protective.

All three of these young women have issues from their time in foster care. And it all goes back to Miss Fairchild and her unpredictability and her insane behavior.

I have only read a couple of books by this author and they have been 3-4 star reads for me. BUT YALL! This book is so good! I could not stop listening to it. You just knew something creepy and evil went on, you just couldn’t quite put your finger on what. You think you know…but do you???

The narrator, Jessica Clarke, nailed it! I love a narrator that is strong and steady!

Need a good thriller which will have you guessing till the end…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

Three “sisters of the heart”, now adults and still friends, are called to the site of many horrors when police find bones buried under their old foster home in Port Agatha, Australia. Foster mother Miss Fairchild was an unstable, unpredictable woman.

The girls were together at Wild Meadows several years, with Jessica having lived there the longest. Nora and Alicia followed,
all with their own sad stories. As neglect and abuse were the norm in the home, the girls formed a strong bond.

Things are slowly pieced together after police question all the suspects. These very well developed and flawed characters lend themselves to an interesting story. Some trigger warnings should possibly be placed on some of the deranged actions of foster mom Holly.

This was a quick read and quite compelling four star book for me that I’d recommend to most mature readers.

4.5 stars rounded up, since I am still digesting this one. I dragged my feet a bit to open it, afraid it would be too heavy and triggering, but it wasn’t — until it was. A heart-wrenching yet thrilling story about fated sisters in an unjust system. The multiple alternating child/adult narrative voices felt seamlessly blended and contributed brilliantly to an immersive and suspenseful plot. Not perfect, but definitely gripping from the first page until the bitter end.

Wow! Just wow! Sally Hepworth did it again. This story grips you from the first chapter and you don’t want to put it down. It was such a quick read leaving you wanting to know what happened next. All of the twist and turns were just *chefs kisses*. I can’t wait for her next novel.

I thought this was more of a family drama than a thriller but I did enjoy it!

Definitely dives in depth to an emotionally abusive situation and the ending threw me totally off- I actually went back a page to reread the ending to make sure I got it right.

Overall it was interesting and kept me engaged! I think others would love this one!

wonderful!

I really really like Sally Hepworth's books. She writes about families with a bit of a dark twist. Besides great characters and plots and unexpected happenings, this one delves into the world of foster children and the resulting adult personalities, something I had never thought a lot about before. Highly recommended

Thank you to the publisher who lent me an e-arc via Netgalley. This review is optional and my own opinion.

This book is so good and will be highly recommended! I was hooked from start to finish. I thought I had it all figured out too, but I definitely did not!

DARLING GIRLS - SALLY HEPWORTH

4.5⭐

PLOT
Jessica, Norah & Alicia were rescued as young girls and Ms Fairchild raised them foster kids on her farming estate. But it wasn't a fairy tale everyone thinks their life was.
Now a body is discovered under the home they grew up in and these three sisters are under spotlight as key witness or even prime suspects?

MY THOUGHTS -
This book will keep you hooked from page 1 and guarantee you will binge read it. The best part it was told in alternative Pov and timelines. The final twist was something which I didn't see coming but what I liked the best was that each character had a perfect resolution thus making it very satisfying to read.

It has been twenty-five years since Jessica, Norah, and Alicia left Port Agatha and Wild Meadows. the farming estate that had been their home where they lived under the care of their cruel and manipulative foster mother, Miss Fairchild. Their memories of those years are far from happy ones and though they are no longer the scared teenagers they were when they reported Miss Fairchild to the authorities all those years ago, their experiences have left an indelible imprint on their lives. But they had each other and together, they endured and survived their ordeal. Though not related by blood, they consider themselves sisters, and their love and unwavering support for one another has only grown stronger over the years. When a body is discovered under the farmhouse, the ensuing investigation draws the sisters back to Port Agatha, where they are forced to revisit their past and the memories that have haunted them.

I thoroughly enjoyed Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth. The narrative is shared from the perspectives of the three main characters with segments from sessions between a character, whose identity is revealed later on in the story, and a psychiatrist interspersed throughout the narrative. The author does a commendable job of depicting the flaws of the foster care system and the long-lasting effects of childhood trauma. I really liked how the author defines the three main characters and their distinctive personalities – strong women who have survived, complex and flawed yet vulnerable, each battling their own demons. The author deftly weaves between past and present timelines into a consistently paced ( a tad on the slower side), suspenseful narrative with convincing characters (even the unlikable ones) and enough twists and turns that keep you turning the pages till you reach the final revelation, which did surprise me ( I always love that!).

I paired my reading with the audiobook and I have to say that I loved Jessica Clarke’s narration and thought she did a remarkable job of breathing life into this story and the characters.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press for the digital review copy via NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the ALC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Sisters Jessica, Norah, and Alicia met as young girls after family tragedies sent them to Miss Fairchild’s large and peaceful bucolic home. Soon, though, they realize they aren’t as fortunate as all the adults say that they are placed with area’s best foster mother: Miss Fairchild requires complete obedience even as they struggle to manage her capricious moods. Finally, Miss Fairchild’s cruelty outweighs the security from living together and the girls make a bold move to escape forever.

Years later, the women are still as close as ever, relieved to be outside of Miss Fairchild’s orbit. However, when workers find a body under Miss Fairchild’s house, they return to Port Agatha, two hours and a lifetime away from Melbourne, their current home. There, they anticipate being key witnesses… but when they arrive, the police treat them more as suspects.

I loved this book, as much as (or more than) THE GOOD SISTER, which until now had been my favorite Sally Hempworth thriller. With very different backstories and personalities, the sisters are great characters. A compulsive liar and math whiz, Norah should be unlikeable but I found her completely endearing. Jessica hides her trauma under a veneer of perfectionism which she has parlayed into a career. And Alicia exudes compassion and insecurity in equal measures but is a talented social worker.

What they experienced at Miss Fairchild’s was disturbing and enraging, and the unveiling of the mystery had my eyes agog.

The book has it all:

✅ Plot
✅Characters
✅Pacing
✅Writing

This book had a slow start but WOW did it hook me. It pulled me in & I sped through it desperate to know how it ended. And the very end made my jaw drop!

I would recommend checking out the trigger warnings because it does deal with some dark topics.

The Darling Girls are three foster sisters who went through some very traumatic times and stayed close as adults. These girls are forced to come back to their place of torment when a body is discovered at their former foster home.

Told from multiple viewpoints across different time zones, this mystery will have you wondering what is really going on until the very end.

I found this story to be a well written thriller with a pretty good twist. Having the story unfold with a mix of present day and past events along with being told from multiple points of view. The characters are all suffering from their time in foster care as small children. I liked how each of the three main characters finally got some closure. The twist was truly surprising. I really didn't see it! The story kept me hooked and wanting to know more. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.